Sugar Hill, Ga., September 27, 2006 -- The POWERade Drag Racing
Series returns to Reading, PA this weekend for the rescheduled Toyo Tires
Nationals, which were postponed due to heavy rains two weeks ago.
Despite having to return to Maple Grove Raceway on what had been
originally scheduled as an off weekend, Warren Johnson and the GM
Performance Parts GTO are anxious to return to action as they look to get
a handle on their new race car which has given them mixed signals in its
first two races. With an additional week to decipher the data,
"The Professor" is confident of extracting the necessary
performance to be in contention.

"After I looked over the data from Dallas, as well as from
Indianapolis, it was somewhat obvious what we needed to do with our GM
Performance Parts GTO," explained Johnson. "In retrospect, I
guess instead of going for a nice, safe infield hit, I went for the
throat and tried to hit a monster home run right out of the box, and it
bit us.

"We know where this car basically should run, and now what we have
to do is make sure we adapt correctly to the conditions. If we take care
of business, we should be in good shape. The one question mark we will
have going into this race will be the track at Maple Grove. Not only has
it seen a tremendous amount of rain over the last two weeks, but it has
also endured an entire year's worth of Northeast weather since we
were last on it, including the extreme cold of winter and the heat of
summer.

"Fortunately, all four qualifying sessions will be held during the
day, so each one should provide a realistic opportunity to make the
show. Since we have to go back, our goal is to go ahead and win the race
to make the extra trip worthwhile."

Reading has been a good classroom for The Professor: This will be
Warren's 22nd career NHRA national event at Maple Grove Raceway.
In his previous 20 starts, he has four wins (which is the most by a Pro
Stock driver) in nine final round appearances (including six in a row
from 1991-1996), and a 44-16 elimination round record for a .733 win
percentage. WJ's most recent Reading win came in 2003, when he
defeated Troy Coughlin in the final.

WJ's Qualifying Stats at "The Grove": In 20 Maple
Raceway starts, WJ has six No. 1 qualifying performances, 16 starts in
the top four positions and a stellar 3.1 average starting position.